| The Icon A-5 is a whole new aviation concept. It is designed to be a personal airplane aimed at the domestic leisure market – and people don’t need to be experienced pilots to fly it. The A-5 intends to simplify the flying process so much that anyone can pick up the skills necessary to fly the plane quickly and easily, and it has a whole stack of sophisticated safety features to help it achieve this goal. The aircraft has been in development since 2008 and is moving towards general release, having passed through the first of the necessary regulatory checks. Let’s have a look at this incredible concept and see a video of the A-5 in action.
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Photography
How do the Astronauts Sleep in Space….
After months of intense training and a white-knuckled trip through the ozone layer at nine times the speed of a rifle bullet, you can bet that NASA astronauts need to bank some rest.
Space sailors log really long hours throughout their days on tasks that require intense concentration, which is why NASA schedules precisely 8.5 hours of sleep per 24 on deck.
How exactly does ‘nighttime’ play out in space?
Astronauts Pam Melroy, George Zamka, and European Space Agency’s Paolo Nespoli, sleep in their sleeping bags, which are secured on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Discovery while docked with the International Space Station.
The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at 17,150 miles per hour, clocking one lap around our planet every hour and a half. Doing the math, this means 16 sunsets every 24 hours — a new day every 90 minutes.
Fascinating, yes, but this unrelenting motion can create colossal jet lag and wreak havoc on an astronaut’s internal body clock.
Hence, Mission Control’s strict bedtime schedule and windows-shut policy.
(Though according to one report, snoozing astronauts still see streaks and bursts of bright color caused by high-energy cosmic rays bursting harmlessly onto their retinas.)
What time zone do they use?
To establish to a regular schedule in zero gravity, Mission Control keeps our diurnal astronauts on Greenwich Mean Time.
I’m guessing no cushy mattresses?
The crew members are provided sleep pods that look like padded broom closets. They have custom sleeping sacks fastened to a wall or the ceiling, lest they float about the cabin.
According to retired astronaut Marsha Ivins, who spent 42 days in space on five different missions, their sleeping bag has armholes that allow you to reach outside the bag to zip it up. You then settle yourself in by tightening the attached Velcro straps. If you don’t tuck your appendages into the bag, they’ll drift out in front of you.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield offers this video tour of his very own sleep sack aboard the ISS. After showing off his astro-PJs you can watch him zip up and close the doors to his pod.
Pillows?
That’s a whole other issue. Though not everyone wants or needs one, Ivins says she did, to help her neck relax. She actually attached her head to a block of foam.
“You put the back of your head on [the ‘pillow’],” she says, “and then you Velcro the front of your head to it.”
What about parasomnias? Any chance of sleepwalking?
Actually there was one reported case of … drifting.
According to a British reporter, one Russian crew member apparently preferred to do without a sleep pod or sleeping bag. His fellow crewmembers, still awake after he turned in, saw him float by — presumably in the midst of sweet dreams. They watched him “bouncing off the walls, his course set by the air currents that gently pushed and pulled him.”
Do they end up getting their hard eight?
No. As hard as they try to get comfy, most astronauts don’t get enough rest. Many are routinely sleep deficient, logging just six hours of sleep every 24 hours.
However, some astronauts speculate that these short sleep sessions may be the result of the body’s feeling less fatigued in a microgravity environment. Less fatigue may equal less sleep need.
Do they report any weird dreams?
According to dream studies conducted aboard the Russian space shuttle Mir, astronauts experience significantly diminished REM sleep in space compared to us Earthlings. They are therefore continually monitored for any and all ill effects.
“Efforts are planned to understand more fully the spaceflight environment and the role that other factors may play in reducing or promoting sleep,” said Lauren Leveton, PhD, senior research scientist in NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Division.
Who wakes them up when it’s ‘morning’?
During the 30-year space shuttle program, which ended in 2011, it was a NASA tradition to have wake-up calls during the shuttle missions. Each “morning” at the scheduled wake-up time, ground operations broadcast a song into the space shuttle cabin. A wide range of musical styles were played, including rock, pop, western and classical.
Each song was selected for a particular astronaut. Sometimes the astronauts requested the tune; other times their families selected a song with special meaning.
Unfortunately, the wake-up service is not available on the ISS. There, the crew must use a regular alarm clock.
Source….www.businessinsider.com.au
Natarajan
Sneezing Monkeys, Walking Fish – 211 Such Unusual Species Discovered in the Himalayas Recently ….
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has released a report that lists 211 rare and endangered animal and plant species, discovered in the Himalayan region. The report has some unusual discoveries like sneezing monkeys, blue-eyed frogs, walking fish and much more.
Did you know that there is a type of monkey which sneezes every time it rains? Or have you heard of a snake that can pass as a carefully crafted piece of jewellery? Ever seen a fish that can survive on the land for up to four days? Well, these are not just fictional characters from a comic book, but real animal species. And guess what, they are found in India!
Yes, you heard it right. According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report released on Monday, over 200 such unusual animal and plant species have been discovered in the Himalayan region in the last six years.
The report named “Hidden Himalayas: Asia’s Wonderland” was released in Bhutan and has interesting details of species found by different scientists and organisations in areas including Bhutan, north-east India, Nepal, the far north of Myanmar and the southern parts of Tibet.
The 211 new species that have been discovered include 133 plants, 39 invertebrates, 26 fish, 10 amphibians, one reptile, one bird and one mammal.
1. A snake that looks like a jewellery
A new pit viper with a unique skin design that showcases an ornate yellow, red and orange pattern has been found. At the first glance, it looks more like a carefully crafted piece of jewellery.
2. A blue eyed frog
The Bompu litter frog is a new species from Arunachal Pradesh, India, which has a striking greyish-blue iris with a vertically oriented black pupil.
3. A critically endangered monkey with an upturned nose
Called Rhinopithecus Stryker, this snub-nosed monkey is also called “Sneezing Monkey” because they often get rainwater in their upturned noses causing them to sneeze whenever it rains.
“To avoid this evolutionary inconvenience, snub-nosed monkeys spend rainy days sitting with their heads tucked between their knees,” said the report.
4. A singing bird
Called Elachura Formosa, this bird belongs to a unique family of birds which contains no other known species. The male members of this species sing their characteristic, unusually high-pitched song during breeding season.
5. A Vibrant blue Dwarf ‘Walking’ Snakehead fish
Found in West Bengal, India, this unusual fish species is air breather. If they are denied access to the surface they die from oxygen starvation. This snakehead fish is able to breathe atmospheric air and can even survive on land for up to four days
“They prefer to target their prey from below, often lunging upwards from the bottom to grab fish and other creatures,” the report said. Because of its aggressive traits and the way it attacks its prey, this fish has been named as “Fishzilla” by the National Geographic.
Apart from bringing these rare species into notice, the report also talks about the threats faced by the Himalayan region. Read the full report for more interesting discoveries and facts.
Story idea courtesy: Aparna Menon
All pics: www.wwfindia.org
Source….Shreya Pareek….www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
14 Infrastructure Projects in India That Are Nothing Short of Engineering Marvels….
From the environment-friendly Chandigarh airport to the modern Delhi metro, from extraordinary solar projects to stellar freeways and tunnels, here is a list of 14 engineering marvels in India that have set a benchmark for other infrastructure projects to follow.
India has a great heritage in architecture and design. And, since independence, the country has made major advances in engineering too. Be it a tunnel in the treacherous mountains or the amazing metros that connect lakhs of commuters everyday, our talented countrymen have designed and executed some amazing projects that deserve to be recognized and applauded.
Here are 14 amazing infrastructural projects in India that make us super proud.
1. World-Class, Eco-Friendly Airports
Cochin airport created news when it became India’s first airport to run on solar power in August 2015. The airport has photovoltaic (PV) panels laid across 45 acres near the cargo complex. The airport can avail 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day through these panels which is sufficient for all its functions. This has technically made the airport “absolutely power neutral.” The implementation of this 12MWp solar power project cost Rs. 62 crore and took six months to complete. It has been set up by Bosch Ltd., Bangalore, and has a capacity to produce 18 million units of power annually. Read more about it here.
The recently constructed Chandigarh international airport at Mohali is the first airport in the country that is ‘totally green’. Spread over 53,000 sq. m, the airport has used environment-friendly green technologies that makes it one-of-its-kind, not only in India, but also in the world. The airport is constructed in a way that no artificial lights would be required to illuminate it during the daytime. It also has a transparent façade with low heat-gain glass which reduces the need for a large amount of air conditioning. The rooftop of the terminal has a 200KW solar plant which is enough to meet the major power needs of the building. Forty percent of the airport is illuminated with LEDs and the air-conditioning is fired by chiller efficient machines. Here’s more about the airport.
2. Magnificent Metro Projects
Starting with the first metro being built in Kolkata in 1984, metros have become lifelines in some of the major cities in India. The Delhi metro started its operations in 2002 and is one of the most disabled-friendly public places in the country, with all stations equipped with ramps, low level control panels in the lifts, and buttons in Braille. With 208 trains serving 140 metro stations, it is the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Named one of the top 100 strategic global infrastructure projects at the Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum held in New York, the Hyderabad Metro Rail project will be the the world’s largest project under public-private partnership. It is also the world’s largest elevated metro and is expected to provide transportation to over 1.7 million commuters by 2017.
3. Neemuch Solar Power Plant, Madhya Pradesh
Located at Diken in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh (MP), it is Asia’s largest solar power plant. This 151 (DC)-megawatt solar photovoltaic power project by Welspun Energy, India’s largest private solar project developers, is set up on an 800-acre site. The plant will address the power needs of 6.24 lakh homes in MP on completion.
4. Yamuna Expressway
The expressway which connects New Delhi with Agra is India’s longest motorway. This 165 kilometer, six-lane expressway was opened in 2012 and has dramatically reduced the travel time between the two cities; it now takes only a little over two hours to get from Delhi to the Taj Mahal. The project was featured in the list of world’s top 100 innovative infrastructure projects, prepared by KPMG.
5. India’s First Solar Park at Charanka Village in Gujarat
This group of solar parks constructed in Gujarat makes the state Asia’s largest solar park hub. Spread across 5,000 acres, with a capacity of 500 MW, the park can generate both solar and wind energy. Operational since 2013, it hosts 19 different projects by different developers, including Alex Astral, US-based Sun Edison, Lanco Solar, Roha Dyechem, and GMR .
6. Amazing Airport Terminals
The Indira Gandhi International Airport was ranked the world’s best airport in handling 25-40 million passengers per annum category by ACI 2014 and is South Asia’s largest aviation hub. The recently constructed T3 Terminal has added to the glory of IGAI. The terminal has a capacity to host 34 million passengers annually and is the 24th largest building in the world. Not only this, it also has India’s first automated parking management and guidance system in a seven-level car parking area which can accommodate 4,300 cars.
Mumbai’s T2 terminal, with a four-storey building and a capacity to handle 40 million passengers annually, is also nothing short of extraordinary. It also has the country’s largest airport escalator at 11.6 meters. The car parking can accommodate 5,200 cars and the steel used to build the roof of the terminal is enough to construct two Eiffel Towers.
7. GIFT City, Gujarat
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is an under-construction central business district between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar that will be a major financial hub. The Rs. 600,000 crore project will host corporate and regional offices of companies, a trade centre, housing colonies, and a centre for the domestic financial sector. It is expected to create over 10 lakh new jobs in 10 years. Organizations like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and agencies of United Nations are expected to open offices here. GIFT city is designed to be eco-friendly – it will use an energy-efficient district cooling system instead of air-conditioning.
8. Ahmedabad and Indore BRTS
The Bus Rapid Transit System of Ahmedabad is a planned commuting system with reduced emissions and improved air quality. It is also referred to as a model urban transport system. Started as a pilot project over a distance of 12.5 kms, it now covers 51 kms. Around 22 percent of commuters who used two wheelers earlier have now started using BRTS. The project ran free of cost for the first three months of operation.
Another BRTS service which is worth mentioning is Indore’s BRTS which has been built on the pattern of Ahmedabad BRTS. This project too offered free rides to the commuters in the initial phase. The project has 16 buses that operate on 10 lines. The buses have a frequency of every 15 minutes on every stop. Smart cards are used for fare collection.
9. Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway
India’s second largest flyover, Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway, is an amazing piece of engineering and design. It connects P D’Mello Road in South Mumbai to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) at Ghatkopar. The 16.8 km long freeway became operational in June 2013 and is believed to support over 25,000 vehicles daily. Commuters can enter the flyover from eight points. Also, the flyover has enabled commuters to enjoy the 20 minutes road journey from CST to Chembur.
10. Banihal-Qazigund tunnel
The tunnel that connects Bichleri Valley of Banihal with Qazigund area of Kashmir Valley is India’s longest railway tunnel. It is also the second longest tunnel in Asia. The tunnel, which became operational in June 2013, is 11 kms long and is located in the Pir Panjal mountain range. The ambitious and difficult project took seven years to complete with the hard work of 150 engineers and 1,300 workers. The USP of the tunnel is the use of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) of construction. The project cost was around Rs. 1,700 crore.
11. Interceptor Sewage System
Yamuna river’s sad state is not news. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has come up with a solution to keep the river clean by implementing the Interceptor sewage system on three major drains – Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahadra drains. This Rs. 1,357 crore project diverts the sewage to treatment plants so that the river’s water can be used for other purposes like horticulture and cleaning. The system captures sewage from the 1,600 unauthorized colonies through 600 mm to 2,400 mm wide pipes.
12. Petrochemical Complex at Dahej
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Petro additions Limited’s (OPaL) mega petrochemical complex at Dahej will be used to manufacture polymers along with products like detergent bottles, milk jugs, water pipes, etc. It will also export products to countries like China, Singapore, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, etc. The construction of the project was started in 2009 and it was expected to be ready by 2013, but was delayed. The officials claim that the plant was mechanically completed by April 2015 and one of the units commissioned in June. Other units of the plant will also be commissioned soon. The entire plant is expected to start operations by end of 2015.
13. Narmada Canal Solar Project
Gujarat’s canal-top solar project covers a 5.5 km section of the Narmada canal with a photovoltaic grid. This 10 MW solar project is one of its kind in the world. Located at Chandrasan village near Mehsana, the plant is designed to generate 1.6 million units of electricity per year along with preventing water from evaporation. The project will eliminate the need of land solar projects and is expected to save two billion litres of water annually. Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited will build the plant and maintain it for 25 years.
14. The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus
Spread over an area of 37 acres, it is the second largest bus station in Asia and is also accredited with the ISO 9001:2000 quality certification for its efficient management and functioning. Opened in 2002, this terminus has the capacity to handle 2,000 buses and 200,000 passengers daily. The bus station has 64 CCTV cameras and a ‘child-friendly’ centre for lost kids. The huge parking lot can accommodate over 2,500 two and four wheelers.
Source….Shreya Pareek….www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
This Couple Found a Surprisingly Simple Way to Tame 120 Aggressive Stray Dogs – Just Feed Them!!!!
Their day starts with cooking. Proceeds to their full-time jobs in multinational companies. And ends after midnight. What’s special? Well, it’s after midnight that they go out to feed the 120 street dogs for whom they cooked in the morning. Meet Anil Prasad and Bismi Anil, a couple whose love for dogs is not just inspiring, it is even helping people in the Whitefield area of Bangalore live in harmony with strays.
It’s after midnight in Whitefield. About 120 dogs are up and alert. They are looking forward to two very special visitors. They know it’s time. Like every night, their guests will soon arrive. A man and a woman, who come with an exciting treat for each one of them. Every single day!
And here they are. Anil Prasad and Bismi Anil – an amazing couple, out on an exceptional mission. They reach at around the same time each day, driving a car that is stacked with lots of food, enough to feed many stray dogs in Whitefield, in and around their apartment complex.
With hearts full of compassion and vessels full of food, they are greeted by the stray dogs like pets greet their owners.
All the dogs have names: Cathy, Stripe, Socksy, Padmini, Cimba, Runner, Tommy, Bolt, Charlie, Signal, Pointer, Butterscotch, Chotti, Rani, Tiger, and more –
Anil and Bismi, both 40-years-old, have taken up the responsibility of creating a unique environment for dogs and the residents of Whitefield so they can co-exist in peace. They do this in various ways, the most important of which is a feeding program for dogs. And they do it along with managing their full-time day jobs in multinational companies.
“It all started with one dog. Around six years back, there came a stray dog with a dislocated hip to the lane where we live. It was very lean and used to drag itself on the road. We felt that it wouldn’t survive. At that time, our pet dog had a habit of wasting a lot of food. So we started giving some food to this dog as well,” remembers Anil.
With proper food, and the required medical care, the dog started to gain strength. Today, it is hale and hearty and continues to enjoy lovely meals provided by this couple.
Pinky enjoying a meal
But Anil and Bismi did not just stop there. When others dogs from the locality began to join the first one, knowing that food is being provided, they began feeding them too.
“We slowly realised that this was making a lot of difference; both to the health of these dogs and the environment in the community as well. We saw that the welfare of the community animals benefits the community as a whole. So we continued,” says Anil.
Ask him what are these benefits that motivated them to continue, and he explains – “Basically, the biggest issue with stray dogs in a community is their aggression towards pedestrians, small children, people on vehicles, etc. If that is controlled, the residents and the dogs can coexist without any disturbances. And to control it we need to do three things — sterilise them to control the population, make sure they are all vaccinated, and try to educate the residents of the community about how to live with the dogs in harmony.”
Hence, what started as a casual feeding activity for one dog turned into an overall welfare program for 120 dogs.
And it started with just one dog
Over the last three years, the couple has ensured that most stray dogs living in various societies, apartment complexes and communities in Whitefield are neutered, vaccinated and well-fed.
Since feeding and medication were now taken care of, they started talking to people to make them more aware about how well-fed and sterilised dogs won’t be a menace for the society if the residents give them a chance to live without fear.
“All the 120 dogs that we are feeding today are more like pet dogs. When they have medical issues and we take them to the vet, even the doctors are unable to believe that they are street dogs. They are so well behaved and tame now – they don’t bite and only know how to love. Such awareness among animals can be created by making sure that all their needs are met,” narrates the proud dog lover.
The feeding of the dogs takes place at a few fixed locations that the couple has identified within a distance of 10 km from their apartment.
“Dogs don’t travel long distances. They have a 200-300m radius and they are mostly found there. That is their territory. So all those places have the same dogs each day,” says Anil. They have even trained the dogs to respond to a special whistle — they come running when they hear it.
Every morning, at around 6:30 am, they cook a biryani like dish for their street friends. For this, they use about 15 kg rice and 6-7 kg meat waste, which is obtained from the local meat vendors (it includes chicken waste, mutton fat, leftover bones, etc.). Then the two leave for their respective day jobs. In the evening, they put the food in service vessels and go out at around 12:30 at night to feed the dogs. “Dogs can be aggressive when they are being fed. So if pedestrians are watching them while they eat, it can be dangerous. If someone approaches them they can attack. That is why we chose this time when it is peaceful and they won’t be interrupted,” says Anil.
The food is served in biodegradable plates. By the time the dogs finish their meal, the plates are soaked and ready to dissolve.
The table is set
Another benefit of feeding the dogs is that the couple gets a chance to go close to them and observe if any of them is facing any medical issues. According to Anil, dogs get very aggressive when they are injured or suffering. A skin or ear infection, or any injury somewhere, can make them aggressive and they can bite people.
“We know them so well that it is easy for us to notice if a dog is not well. It is also very easy for us to recognize if a dog is not eating properly. If some dog is eating less that it usually does, we understand that it has a problem. Then we give the required medical attention.”
Anil and Bismi sponsor the whole program themselves. The amount needed to take care of the dogs comes to around Rs. 30,000 per month.
Half of this goes for the food, and the other half for medical treatment of the dogs. Some of their friends contribute with a few kilograms of rice sometimes. They also get a lot of emotional support from friends and animal lovers across the city.
But their journey has not been a very easy one. Whenever they start working in a new community or society, they face a lot of opposition from the residents who don’t want the dogs to get accustomed to getting food inside their locality. The couple has even been threatened at times. But the two are determined to continue, no matter what.
And the results are visible now. “There is a society near our place. When we went there to begin the program the residents said that they want to get rid of all the dogs, even kill them if required. We sat with them and tried to understand their point of view and realised that they were concerned because the dogs were creating a lot of disturbance in the area. They were biting people, throwing them off their bikes, stealing shoes, etc. Then we took over. Today, the people of the same community want to adopt strays as pets,” says a beaming Anil, who wants to set up a shelter for injured dogs in the future.
Anil and Bismi have shown that it takes no more than a lot of love and some grains of rice to win over the affection of man’s best friend. And that people who are afraid of dogs can learn, with patience and education, how to co-exist with them in harmony.
Man’s best friend
You can contact the couple by writing to them at bismia@gmail.com.
Source….Tanaya Singh …www.the betterindia.com
natarajan
6 Amazing Facts About Baripatha – Odisha’s First 100% Solar Powered Village….
Baripatha has become the first village in Odisha to be entirely solar-powered, with an individual solar unit for every household.
After waiting for electricity for several years, lives of the residents of Baripatha, a tribal village in Odisha, changed for the better on Oct. 2, 2015. On this day, Baripatha became the first village in the state to be completely powered by solar energy.
Here are few things to know about the village and this project:
1. Baripatha is located about 25 km southwest of Bhubaneswar. The village has 61 households, and a population of about 350 people.
Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: Premasagar Rose/Flickr
2. The project cost Rs. 7 lakh and was co-funded by the solar products manufacturer, ECCO Electronics, and the power solutions provider, Jackson Group.
“We requested companies such as Nalco, Ecco Solar and Jackson Solar to help us with the solar project for the village…This model can be replicated all over Odisha to provide power to its nearly 3,900 villages,” senior IPS officer Joydeep Nayak, who is the driving force behind this initiative, told The Times of India.
Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: Flickr
3. Under this project, individual solar units with two solar home-lighting systems, which also have the facility of charging mobile phones and other devices, have been installed for each of the 61 households in the village.
This is accompanied by a central one-kilowatt unit for the entire village that will be used to power the eight street lamps along with a LED television set and TV set-top box that have been provided to the villagers and have been installed in their community centre.
Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: Flickr
4. The central solar unit has eight panels that can be folded quickly in case of cyclones and high-speed winds that are frequent in Odisha.
The unit can also operate a one-horsepower irrigation pump.
Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: Flickr
5. What makes the project in Baripatha is that in most rural solar projects, there is a central unit which supplies power to all households.
But that leads to many problems like the exposed cables being tapped by villagers. In this case, some households draw more power than their share, which in turn causes the central line to trip because of overload. Thus, to avoid such issues, individual units have been set up for each household.
Picture for representation only. Photo Credit: Flickr
6. The entire solar project is low cost, low maintenance and community owned.
The only maintenance needed now is the regular cleaning of panels and ensuring that water levels of batteries for the central unit are at the required mark. According to ECCO CEO, Vivek Bihani, the whole village was involved in the planning and execution of the project. “Village mukhia Narayan Hisa along with a local ITI diploma holder, Epil Kumar Singh, are responsible for the maintenance,” he informed.
Source: YouTube
The project was inaugurated on Friday by the chairman and managing director of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), Tapan Kumar Chand. He, along with the other state officials, distributed the two lighting systems to each household.
Source…..Tanaya Singh….www.the betterindia.com
Natarajan
IISc Students Design Helicopter Which Derives Power from Its Own Blades. Bag Prestigious Award …..
A team of students from Indian Institute of Science bagged a coveted award at the Student Design Competition conducted by American Helicopter Society International. This is what the students had designed.
This August, four students from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, won the ‘Best New Entry – Graduate’ award at the Student Design Competition conducted annually by the American Helicopter Society International.
The challenge was to design a small helicopter that can carry packages weighing up to 10kgs and can deliver them in urban settings.
Source: Facebook
The eco-friendly aspect of the challenge was that the helicopter should function at a noise level lower than a prescribed limit, with minimal carbon footprint. Team Lakshya, of aerospace engineering department of IISc, came up with two solutions:
- To deliver lighter packages: A four-blade small helicopter (a quad-rotor, looks like a drone) that derives power from the vibrations of its blades.
- To deliver heavier packages: A conventional unmanned aerial vehicle
Both the vehicles partly derive power from their blades, thus reducing carbon footprint as compared to helicopters which are fully powered by fossil fuels.
The technology behind using energy from blade vibrations has been developed by the Non Linear Multifunctional Composites Analysis and Design (NMCAD) laboratory of the department of aerospace engineering in IISc. The institute is in the process of getting the technology patented. The team behind the development of this technology was crowned ultimate champion at the 4th edition of UNESCO-Airbus biennial innovation challenge, “Fly Your Ideas (FYI)” at Hamburg, Germany, in June this year.
American Helicopter Society organizes the Student Design Competition in association with other major helicopter companies, and this was the 32nd edition of the competition.
“The AHS International annual Student Design Competition challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, provides a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities around the world and promotes student interest in vertical flight technology,” says that society’s website.
Every year, the organizers choose an open design problem and students have to submit their entries. The jury has academic and well as industry experts.
“It is indeed a proud moment and a wonderful experience to be recognised by the world’s most renowned vertical flight society,” said Rajnish Mallick, a doctoral graduate from IISc, who led Team Lakshya, to The Hindu.
Featured image for representation only. Photo Credit: Lee/Flickr
Source…. Tanaya Singh….www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
How One School Used Solar Power to Go from Being an Electricity Consumer to Electricity Producer …
In the small coastal town of Pondicherry, south of Chennai, there is a school that is not only self-reliant in terms of energy but is also sharing the excess it produces with other buildings in the area.
The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (SAICE) in Pondicherry has been operating on green energy since September 2014.
Many schools encourage their students to switch off the fans and lights after use, plant trees and take other initiatives to save energy. However, very few go beyond just asking them to take precautions and save energy. SAICE is different.
This educational institute is self-reliant in terms of energy; it meets all its energy requirements through solar power. Moreover, it produces three times the electricity it consumes and lights up many other buildings with the excess energy.
Sri Aurobindo Ashram
And it has done so by devising and implementing a project almost entirely on its own.
SAICE is a part of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry. It was in 2012 that Dr. Brahmanand Mohanty, an alumnus of SAICE, came up with the idea of making the ashram energy efficient with the help of a sustainable model.
“As the Indian economy continues to grow, so will its energy consumption. The country’s primary energy consumption more than doubled between 1990 and 2011. As the demand continues to grow, keeping pace with the GDP growth, the energy sector is struggling to deliver a secure supply of energy,” says Dr. Mohanty, explaining why he thought this move was important. Hailing from Odisha, Dr. Mohanty is currently working as the Visiting Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and has been engaged in the area of energy and environment managements since the last three decades.
According to Dr. Mohanty, many rural areas of the country do not have access to electricity. And urban India uses energy-intensive appliances, resulting in electricity shortage.
The entrance of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education –
Dr. Mohanty had a vision of developing a system that would make SAICE self-dependent for energy. With this in mind, he had a meeting with the trustees of the Ashram. They gave him the go ahead and even suggested that pilot research activities should be taken up with the active participation of the young teachers and students at the Institute. And then it all began. The whole project was conducted in two phases from 2012 to 2015.
Phase One: The Pilot
The pilot research took place between 2012 and 2014. The idea was to demonstrate that it is possible for an electricity consumer to achieve net-energy positive status (to generate more energy than consumed) by adopting measures to lower the energy demand through energy efficiency and conservation, and producing electricity using solar energy. To begin with, the energy requirements of SAICE were measured, in order to understand the pattern of electricity consumption over a long period of time.
Following this analysis, all inefficient lamps, fans, air conditioners, and computers, which had been in use since a long period of time, were substituted by more energy-efficient alternatives to lower the energy demand by more than 25 percent, without compromising on the quality and service.
Replacement of energy-inefficient appliances by more efficient alternatives
With a better understanding of how much energy the educational institute was consuming, they came to the decision that a solar power plant should be installed inside the campus so as to meet all the energy demands in-house. Thus, a 17 kWp rooftop solar power plant was set up in the school by an Auroville-based solar installer.
Teachers and students were involved in the entire process right from the start. They helped in the basic wiring, setting up the panels on the rooftop, and more.
Students of SAICE actively involved in the installation of the rooftop solar power plant. –
“This allowed them to get a better grasp of the working principles of a grid-tie solar power generation system and they also got practical exposure to the various aspects of the solar system to be taken into consideration in order to ensure its proper functioning over a long time frame,” says Dr. Mohanty.
With this solar plant, SAICE evolved from being an electricity consumer to an electricity producer. This research initiative was supported and recognized by the Government of Pondicherry, as well as the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI), as part of the pioneering Smart Grid Pilot project being implemented for the first time in India. Smart Grid facilitates a two-way electricity delivery system, that is, integration of renewable energy sources followed by smart transmission and distribution from the renewable source to the nearby consumers.
Thus, after the solar plant was set up, 700 kWh of excess energy was exported back into the power grid during the first month.
A wide-angle photo of the solar panels installed on SAICE rooftop –
Phase Two: Giving More than they Take
This phase started after the announcement of the Solar Energy Regulations by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) for Goa and Union Territories in December 2014. One of the features of this regulation is group net metering. What is that?
“If someone owns more than one property connected to the power grid, it is possible for him/her to install bigger capacity solar plants in one or more buildings and use the excess electricity that is generated to adjust the electricity consumed in other buildings on rooftops where there is no solar installation. For example, the excess 700 kWh that was produced by the rooftop solar system in the school last September could be used by the Ashram to reduce or avoid the payment of electricity in another Ashram building,” explains Dr. Mohanty.
As the Ashram is the owner of many buildings, for its various departments, the school was able to utilise this feature.
Thus, in the second phase, which took shape in March 2015, the rooftop solar power plant was expanded to achieve a cumulative solar power generation capacity of 50 kWp. The plant has now been extended to four buildings inside the ashram complex and it generates an average of 6,500 kWh electricity per month, which is more than three times the present electricity consumption of the school.
The excess then is used for the electricity needs of other buildings of the ashram.
Results of the data from the bi-directional smart electric meter showing how SAICE had become a net electricity exporter after the installation of the 17 kWp solar power plant.
“The main operation of the school is during the daytime and there are limited activities beyond sunshine hours. The electricity produced by the solar plant not only takes care of all the needs of SAICE during the day but also exports 161 kWh of electricity to the power grid. On the other hand, only about 32 kWh of electricity is drawn from the power grid after sunset…This demonstrates how school buildings that are mainly operational during daytime can adopt rooftop solar systems to not only meet their own electricity needs but also assist in bridging the shortfall in the grid supply,” says Dr. Mohanty.
The organization that helped with the development of the power plants also developed a remote monitoring system called Wattmon, which tracks the performance of the four solar power plants, online. It also monitors the voltage, current, power output, solar inverter efficiency, and total electricity produced at any time of the day.
The Ashram already produces its own rice, lentils, vegetable, milk and cooking oil that are needed in the community dining room on a daily basis. This is an added step towards sustainability.
Noticing the benefits of this system, people at the Ashram and in the nearby places are trying to take suitable steps to gradually reduce their dependence on fossil-fuel fired power plants. More and more students are also keen to learn about how solar energy can be harnessed to serve humanity and they now dream of having a more sunny future.
The entire project cost about Rs. 1 crore and was completely funded by the Ashram itself.
A bird’s-eye-view photo of the solar panels installed on SAICE rooftop with the Indian Ocean in the backdrop
But this, according to Dr. Mohanty, is a profitable deal. Because the cost-benefit analysis of the solar power project shows that the capital investment on the project can be recovered roughly in 10 years from the savings in electricity bills.
“The main message of this research initiative is that those who have access to energy and can well afford it…can also contribute to making the scarce energy resources available for all those who do not have access,” he concludes.
You can contact Dr. Mohanty by writing to him at mohantyb@gmail.com.
Source….Tanaya Singh……www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
Top Ten Positive Words and Expressions…
| Positivity is perhaps the most desired of feelings. We feel unhappy because of all sorts of matters, but little do we realize that we’re missing out on something very minor, but extremely profound. It is not only important to be aware of the words we speak, but all the more the ones we don’t. Add the following positive words to your vocabualry and you will see how they are actually the simplest words you will ever need to remember.
A sense of community forms a large proportion of our overall cause of happiness, and how much we cherish it depends on our actions. When you’re in public, there’s no harm in smiling at people and saying a simple “Hello“, when it’s possible. By doing this, you will be prolonging your social bonds rather than neglecting them.
No one knows what the future holds, but hope is the only thing we have that connects us to it in the most positive way possible. Once we have that, we are more trusting of whatever comes our way, and people will see your optimism shining through from the inside. This also creates good vibes with the people we meet, hence spreading more positivity. Don’t forget to use this word as a key for giving good advice.
Remind yourself that there is a solution to everything. Nothing is as bad as you think it is – if it diverges from your expectations, it doesn’t mean you won’t work your way through it. Using “good‘ or “great” enhances your sense of positivity, and besides, they surely sound better to people’s ears rather than a frank “but”.
There’s nothing wrong in wondering about stuff. Having thoughts and questions popping up in your head is absolutely normal. Asking “how” means that you are interested in something, you want to learn, and you want to challenge yourself. As long as it is used for good intentions and in reasonable frequencies, this word can make you seem that you’re taking the initiative in something positively, as in for instance: “How does this work?” or “How can I help?”.
Things can not simply be good, they can be much more than that! In this situation, we would want to express our excitement about what is turning out to be great in whatever we are doing. This is why words like “awesome” and “excellent” are vital for one’s daily vocabulary. Remember that everything can be excellent, if we rightfully decide it is so!
Show that you can give a “yes” now and again. This doesn’t mean you should accept everything you come across, but adopting a ‘yes’ attitude towards life and its opportunities will make others realize you have a strong and reliable character. Avoid too much of ‘no’ and ‘I don’t know’ in your answers and decisions – look at the bright side and open your mind to other options – there’s always room for a ‘yes’.
Where has your enthusiasm gone? Have you forgotten how to be awed at something? Idealism is a nasty tendency that blocks the possibility for a meaningful “wow“. Don’t keep looking into how much better something can be, appreciate that it’s already amazing enough and that what is yet to come is something thrilling! Look for the opportunities that make you say ‘wow’ – you’ll realize how many of them we come across every day but never notice.
We sometimes forget to say the most profound word of all. Let people know how important they are to you by saying the special three-word sentence – “I love you“. Very often, we know it deep down but we fail to say it out loud. Love is something that grows, but also something that can be lost terribly quickly. So before you regret it, spread the incredible feeling within you with your friends, family, and partner in life, not only in words, but also in actions.
Appreciation and gratitude are the greatest gifts of fulfillment you could ever give to anyone. Nothing beats a kind feedback like areward and letting someone know they have done something special. When you use “thanks“, people will feel more significant and respected when around you. Maybe you might realize there are some people in your life to whom you owe a big thank you. Let them know this now before it’s too late, and make sure you put a smile on their faces. You will feel lighter and happier yourself upon doing it.
Finally, don’t forget “me“. Remember: it’s ok to think of yourself a little more often. Think of how you are feeling and what makes you feel better. When we reflect with ourselves, we like to look at our flaws. Rather than doing this, create the opportunity to feel good about yourself, observe your improvements and know what your skills and talents are. No one will ever know them better than you do. Apart from this, never forget that in order to make other people happy, you need to find happiness within yourself.
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” Message in this video clip is Lot deeper…”
A Pup’s Love: Watch The Touching Loyalty of this Dog
There is a reason why dogs are labelled man’s best friend. They provide us with companionship, protection and are loyal to the people that love them until the very end. This video reflects just that. This dog’s best friend was his owner, he would follow and eagerly wait for him anywhere he went, even when the ambulance showed up, his dog never left his side – but, the message in this video is a lot deeper. Take a moment to watch this touching clip. How did you respond to the message at the end
Source….www.ba-bamail.com and www. youtube.com
Natarajan
Take off with Natarajan 